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I was very concerned to read the article in Speedcafe this morning, which was headlined
“Hampton Downs creators plead for backers as circuit fights for survival”
It then went on to open with the following paragraphs:
The tenuous financial position of Hampton Downs remains on a knife-edge with its founders putting out a call for national and international investors.
As the V8 SuperTourers opening round kicks off at the North Waikato circuit this weekend, Tony Roberts and Chris Watson, the passionate enthusiasts who constructed the track, have reached flashpoint with the 350-acre facility.
It was only when I was sent the original press release that I realized that the tone was quite different, and whilst the original can be seen purely as a call for investors to complete the circuit, the Speedcafe article has used most of the original press release and then added emotive statements such as:
“Amid concerns over the continued viability of Hampton Downs, Roberts says the circuit will continue to operate.”
This is just tabloid journalism, at no time did HD's release mention whether or not Hampton Downs was running profitably or not, so the Speedcafe author must have simply decided to add some rumour and scuttlebutt to the story to add “spice.”
This is just not what you do with a press release, they are not for adding editorial content which is not based on facts, because the impression comes across that the entire article is authorised. Very bad journalism from Speedcafe.
The circuit is in fact very busy and operating profitably, a fact which the person who wrote that article obviously didn't bother to investigate. I think for once CCC and SB are actually right, you can't always trust what you read there after all.
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